Taylor Swift donates $50K to support mother injured during selfless act to help teenagers

Taylor Swift donated to a GoFundMe campaign for Ashley Taunton, who was injured while helping teenagers whose vehicle had hydroplaned on a rainy day
Taylor Swift has a long history of making generous donations (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
Taylor Swift has a long history of making generous donations (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Taylor Swift doesn’t just win hearts by singing or giving speeches; she also wins hearts through her random acts of kindness.

The 'Lover' singer made a surprising $50,000 donation to a mother after her kind act toward teenagers. Swift helped Ashley Taunton by donating $50,000 after she helped teenagers whose vehicle had hydroplaned on a rainy day.  

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 26: Taylor Swift attends the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 26, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Taylor Swift attends the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 26, 2026, in Hollywood, California (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Taylor Swift's generous $50k donation to a needy mother for her act of kindness 

Swift donated $50,000 to a GoFundMe campaign that was set up by Taunton and her family to help support her recovery.

The 42-year-old nursing assistant, a wife and mother of three from Connecticut, noticed an incident during a drive on I-95 in Rhode Island with her daughter. About 30 yards away from the accident scene, Taunton got out of her car and asked her daughter to stay put and call her husband.

She headed to the crashed car and saw that the passengers "were a little bit banged up, but seemed relatively okay." However, a moment later, another car skidded on the waterlogged road and was going to hit the car. As per PEOPLE, the driver lost control of his car due to bad road conditions.



Having little time to act, Taunton threw one of the teenagers, identified as Vinny, aside and saved him from the impact before she herself was hit by the car. "It just felt like a big explosion," Taunton told PEOPLE. "I just remember being on the ground, and I could see my ankle was just hanging there. I went to try to get up, and I couldn't breathe."

Immediately after the incident, her daughter ran to help her mother, holding her hand until the arrival of the rescuers. Taunton was taken to the Rhode Island Hospital with several life-threatening injuries, including bilateral internal carotid artery dissection, lacerations of the liver and spleen, multiple rib fractures, and ruptured diaphragm.

Now, with the help of Swift's surprising $50,000 donation, Taunton can continue recovering. The total amount raised via the GoFundMe campaign reached more than $64,000 as of Friday, August 28, while a Meal Train for the family raised more than $16,000.

Taylor Swift and her generous donations

This wasn't the first time Swift had made a generous donation. She has long been known for helping fans in difficult times. In 2015, she donated $50,000 to 11-year-old Swiftie Naomi Oakes, who was battling cancer at the time.

In another instance, she made a donation of $1,989 to fan Rebekah Bortnick, inspired by her album '1989'. Along with the check, Swift wrote her a letter saying, “Now you’re $1989 closer to paying off those student loans.”

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JANUARY 26: Taylor Swift celebrates with Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs after defeating the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in the AFC Championship Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 26, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
Taylor Swift celebrates with Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs after defeating the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in the AFC Championship Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 26, 2025, in Kansas City, Missouri (David Eulitt/Getty Images)

Her kindness has not been reserved for individual fans only. Amid her Eras Tour, she donated money that helped the operations of 1,400 food bank centers. Most recently, before her wedding in July, Swift and her husband Travis Kelce made a massive $26 million donation to 20 different charities in the United States.

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